Travel-friendly Beauty

I'm a pretty practical girl: I've never been the kind to blow my cash on trendy designer labels only to be able to say "I am wearing so and so." My hard earned money has always gone towards the things that matter much more to me like making memories and exploring the world, be it outside my doorstep or across the pond.

I've been to 15 countries in the past four years (!) and with all of the packing, unpacking, re-packing and airport security lines, I've learned a few lessons in the practicalities of travelling smarter. With the weight restrictions on baggage and limitations on carry-ons, it's always best to be prepared. Before taking your next trip, consider some travel-friendly, lighter alternatives that can save you on the plane and save some space in your case (so you can pack that extra pair of shoes!).

Here are my top five travel-friendly LUSH picks to help you travel lighter, smarter and happier:

Full of Grace Serum

This is instant hydration in solid form for parched, après flight skin as well as spent-all-day-in-the-sun skin. Both are in need of hydration—stat!—and vitamins B and C in this bar (which come from the Portabellas its packing) are ideal to revive skin. For me, the scent of this bar will always be tied to the slightly chilly April mornings in a small, rural region of Crete in Greece.

Fairly Traded Honey

I’ve found that even a small bottle of this shampoo will last you a very long time. This rich and sweet smelling sudsers is by far one of the best clarifying shampoos out there. Instead of stripping your scalp of oils, the honey is moisturizing and the scent is as sweet as, well, honey!

Jungle Solid Conditioner

Well, for one, it's a SOLID conditioner! How easy is that to pat dry and take with you as you move from town to town?! The true wonder in this bar is that it’s a genuinely moisturizing conditioner without weighing the hair down and making it feel greasy. It smells like freshly cut grass after a night full of misty rain has cleared. It's refreshing and uplifting and will do wonders when used as a shave cream substitute on stubbly legs!

Toothy Tabs

For the ideal way to wash up your teeth after an eight hour flight to Europe, post meals, snacks, beverages and a nap, chew on a toothy tab. I swear by the "Dirty" tabs for their refreshing and slightly salty cleansing bite. It's so important to keep up your oral hygiene while in the air because you never know who you'll be seated next to in tight quarters. (Wink, wink.)

Eau Roma Water

The 100 mL size is a carry-on must to keep you hydrated and happy. Hopefully, you've opted to wear minimal makeup while on a flight which, I can assure you, your skin will thank you for. For a hydrating boost mid-flight or just before you begin your descent, Eau Roma calms irritated, dry skin thanks to the rose and lavender oils. It's no coincidence that this gem of a spray accompanied me on my flight into Italy before a week long cruise of the Adriatic.

The ideal packing and usage situation is to take only as much as you need, which can be hard to gauge from the get go. Consider that you'll wash your hair every other day so shampoo and conditioner need not be large containers, but you’ll clean your face and teeth daily (probably multiple times), so don't skimp on the amount you choose to bring. And always, always remember to bring back containers, papers and cases of what you use. It's nice to think you may have left a mark on the place you've visited, but in reality, that mark shouldn't be your trash.

Bahar Niramwalla

After many years stuck behind a desk, and her mind on the latest mascara and wondering which conditioner was worth the extra cash, Baha Niramwalla decided to make a break for it. The very same day, she became the Beauty Basics Makeup artist and presenter with the Globe And Mail’s Globe Life secion and weekly Beauty Q&A expert for the Globe’s Saturday Style section. A few months after that, Niramwalla began to step in front of the camera as the resident Beauty Specialist in the first season on the Marilyn Denis Show. She’s since written for Yahoo! Canada, Sympatico.ca and has her own blog where she posts about beauty, travel and occasionally obsesses over perfume. She is a makeup artist in Toronto and outside of playing with cosmetics as a job, and having recently conquered her fear of flying, she freelances as a travel writer and has had a chance to visit such countries as Croatia, England, Greece, Italy, India, Mexico, Slovenia and The UAE, just to name a few. Next on the list: Barbados or Belize.